Amazon is hosting this year’s two-day Prime Day event on July 12-13.
The 48-hour shopping craze kicks off July 12 at 3 a.m. ET though the e-commerce giant will start dishing out the deals ahead of the official event. Member-only offerings start June 21 and will include 55 percent off select Amazon devices and up to 50 percent off Fire TV smart televisions.
In 2020, Prime Day moved to October after various delays as a result of the global coronavirus outbreak, essentially pushing the entire holiday peak season up one month and spawning copycat promotions from both Walmart and Target. A year later, it moved back up to June, with the competing retail rivals followed suit.
Amazon said that Prime Day will offer deals from brands such as Levi’s and Simple Joys by Carter’s, as well as fashion styles from the e-commerce giant’s private-label brand, Amazon Essentials. Additionally, the tech titan will offer savings on products across categories, including “Customers’ Most Loved,” “Internet Famous” and a selection of Climate Pledge Friendly-labeled products.
Prime Day will occur on these dates for members in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore and Spain.
Prime members in Poland and Sweden will be able to participate in the event for the first time.
Later this summer, Prime Day deals events will be held in India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as in Egypt for the first time.
Prime Day 2022 could be bigger for Amazon than many realize. EMarketer revealed on Tuesday that it projects 9 percent growth for Amazon’s e-commerce business this year to $397.4 billion, well below its initial forecasts of 14.6 percent.
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Such a projected growth rate would give the firm a 37.8 percent share of the U.S. e-commerce market in 2022, a slight drop from the 38 percent it had last year. This is the first time the consultancy has anticipated a decline in Amazon’s U.S. e-commerce share, on the heels of Amazon’s first e-commerce quarterly decline in seven years on $3.8 billion in net losses. The company set conservative guidance for the second quarter, expecting sales in the range of $116 billion to $121 billion, falling short of the $125.6 billion Wall Street analysts initially estimated.
The shopping extravaganza generated approximately $9.54 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) for Amazon in 2021 on more than 250 million items sold. According to data from Digital Commerce 360, last year’s event brought in just a 7.7 percent increase in total product sold on the marketplace. Amazon itself did not disclose how revenue was generated during the 2021 event, only revealing that third-party sellers surpassed 2020 totals of $3.5 billion.
Customers will be able to shop products from top national brands and more third-party sellers than last year’s Prime Day, Amazon said, with the categories extending across fashion, electronics, toys and home.
“With the small businesses and national brands our members love and trust, we’re excited to offer some of our best Prime Day deals yet to even more customers around the world,” said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime. “This year, we’re making it simple for members to find the best deals, from personalized deal recommendations to Alexa reminders. It’s never been easier for Prime members to shop, save, and make the most of Prime Day.”
As is annual tradition, the e-commerce giant is incentivizing Prime members to shop small third-party brands on its marketplace. From June 21-July 11, for every $1 spent on eligible small business products, customers will receive a chance to win prizes such as tickets to Super Bowl LVII, VIP passes to music experiences in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, tickets to a special New York City screening and cast meet-and-greet for Prime Video’s upcoming “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series, and a VIP trip to Amazon’s first-ever clothing store, Amazon Style, near Los Angeles.
Plus, “hundreds of thousands” of global sweepstakes entrants will have a chance to win Amazon gift cards, the company said.
Amazon is also offering a new Small Business Badge that Prime members can use to discover and shop products from small businesses on the marketplace.
Prime Day 2022 will be the first iteration of the sale that occurs after the annual Prime membership fee was ticked up from $119 to $139 per year. Amazon made the move in February, with monthly memberships costing $14.99, or $2 higher than the previous fee.
The e-commerce giant is once again promoting livestreaming as a significant portion of the shopping event. Starting June 21, customers can shop early Prime Day deals while watching Amazon Live streams of celebrities and influencers including reality TV stars Porsha Williams and Lala Kent, and father-and-son comedy duo Frank and Joe Mele. On June 28, Hilary Duff will join some of her favorite small business owners who will showcase their products.
And for the first time, Amazon is incorporating its Affirm partnership into its Prime Day plans, giving shoppers a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) option to help them afford their purchases. From June 28-July 11, Prime members can get zero-percent APR on three equal monthly payments when they spend $50 or more on eligible products on Amazon, as long as the BNPL provider approves their credit. For example, a $300 purchase might cost $100 per month over three months at zero-percent APR.
This is also the company’s first Prime Day held after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stepped down from the CEO position last year.